improbability of perfection
by fiesa
Summary: Everyone knows how Shikamaru prefers his girls. OneShot- Ino, Shikamaru. And. Side pairing: Naruto/Sakura and others.


**improbability of perfection**

_Summary: Everyone knows how Shikamaru prefers his girls. OneShot- Ino, Shikamaru. And. Side pairing: Naruto/Sakura._

_Warning: Written with the clear intent to write fluff. _

_Set: Story-unrelated. _

_Disclaimer: Standards apply._

* * *

"They look so good together, don't they?"

Yamanaka Ria looked in the same direction her friend Nara Yoshino saw and was graced with the same view: her daughter Ino and Yoshino's son, Shikamaru, sitting on the small bridge railing above the river. They seemed lost there, she thought, seeing as Akimichi Chouji, last of their team, was still missing. And yet, there was an air of closeness that surrounded the two of them.

"They do," she agreed and smirked. "But don't tell Inoichi. He'll throw a fit."

Yoshino laughed outright at the thought. "While Shikaku would groan and say it was troublesome."

"They're growing so fast," Ria said fondly. "It feels like they were six only yesterday. But it's her sixteenth birthday in a week. Remember when Shikamaru refused her invitation for her seventh birthday?"

"Oh, the memories!"

Both women were silent for a while.

"They have been growing closer over the last years, haven't they? They were such good friends when they were children, and then…"

"Yeah, they seemed to just drift apart." Ria's face was set in a frown. "I don't know why. Ino just… Maybe it was Asuma's death. Or the war."

"Or the simple fact that Ino is a woman now, and Shikamaru a man."

"Yes."

Yoshino sighed. "They went through so much. I just wished…"

"Me, too."

…

"You don't think that's actually possible. There are no women like that."

Ino stared at him, her gaze full of contempt. Shikamaru leaned back on his hands and lifted his face to the sky. She was annoying, as always.

"Troublesome."

She huffed in indignation and perhaps in more, crossing her arms over her chest. "Dream on."

"You asked."

"Idiot."

She hadn't actually needed to ask, she had known it already. Everyone knew Shikamaru only dated girls who were passably good-looking, and passably intelligent. But exactly those were the premises – no strikingly beautiful girls, no overly smart ones. And no overachievers.

"One day you're going to regret this."

He mumbled something incoherent. Ino turned on her heel and left him to watch his clouds.

…

Actually, it wasn't about how Shikamaru preferred his girls. Because when it came down to it, everyone knew how he liked them. He had made clear enough that he wanted a quiet life, a quiet wife, not too beautiful, not too smart, Ino supposed the concept of emancipation hadn't yet hit home in his case. Lazy bastard he was he dreamt of a quiet life, children, perhaps, a good job and a passable income. It, also, wasn't about how many girls he had dated before (quite a number of them) and how long it had lasted (between three weeks and one year and a few months), because ultimately, they had been young. Ino had had boyfriends, too, but contrarily to Shikamaru, she had standards. Or, higher ones, at least. Pity that the one person she had been in love with since her childhood didn't even take notice of her.

…

"Are you still waiting for him?" Sakura asked and tugged a brush through Ino's hair. She received a grunted non-committal. Ino's head sank onto her knees as she dropped it. "You should move on," her best friend advised her. "I did, too."

…

It's easy for Sakura to say things like that.

She has been side by side with Naruto for half an eternity, yes, but she had to give up on Sasuke while he wasn't even close. So it might be safe to say she was left without a chance. In Ino's case the choice is the drug that takes her closer to addiction every time she tries it, and trying is a lesson in futility. She is already addicted to him but she thinks she might be able to survive constant withdrawal as long as he does not take any notice of her.

…

"You look like shit."

He grunted in response. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair messier than usual, his breath reeked of alcohol. He still was in his clothes from yesterday. Ino's legs dangled from the banister of the bridge – they'd played here as children, Shikamaru and Chouji and her, it had been _their place_ – and waited until he settled down next to her. She couldn't help but notice he had come here, to _her_, and her heart warmed a tiny bit. But then, the bridge was on his way back home. Perhaps it was coincidence, after all.

There was only one occasion that he would look like this, and smell like this. The usual mix of pity, elation and self-loathing froze her from the inside.

"What was it this time?"

"Said I was too lazy."

He always managed to sound like he didn't care. She never could be sure whether it was an act or not, but his red-rimmed eyes told her different stories. Silently, they watched the moon rise over the silvery water of the river.

…

"Come on, you have to!"

If even Chouji tried to persuade her, Ino mused, she must look really, really bad. Boyfriend-less bad.

"You know how the Inuzuka celebrate their birthdays, it will be epic. Come on, Ino. Don't be a spoilsport."

She agreed, as usual, and she enjoyed herself, as usual, too. At least she enjoyed herself until she found Shikamaru and some other girl in the backyard, their lips firmly attached to each other. She gagged and made sure they heard her.

…

"Why are they the only ones in Hidden Leaf who don't notice how perfect they are together?"

…

"There is a reason why you never keep a girlfriend for longer than seven months," she told him.

"Is there?" He sounded uninterested but from the way his frown increased minimally she could tell he was listening.

"Yes, there is, genius idiot! You don't care for them enough, and that they notice. We're not dumb, you know."

"You're not dumb?" He echoed, his brows hitting his hairline. Ino blushed crimson.

"Women, I mean," she spat at him. Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Am I taking dating advice from someone who hasn't had a stable relationship in the last five years?" His taunts, once provoked, had devastating effect. Ino closed her mouth with an audible _snap_, then opened it again.

"Go to hell."

Not exactly what she had been wanting to say for the last _ten_ years.

…

"Remember, when we were kids?" Chouji asked. Ino sighed. Shikamaru nodded. "I said I wanted to marry a girl that could cook. Shikamaru said he didn't want a beautiful girlfriend because she would be troublesome. And Ino, you said you would only marry someone who would help you out in the shop." He grinned fondly at the memory. Ino shifted. Shikamaru remained silent.

"Mizuno can cook," Ino finally offered. Chouji's grin widened even more.

"That's why I'm going to marry her."

"You've been dating for six months now. Give the girl some time."

…

"Don't be so damn childish, Ino!"

Rei tugged at her arm, his fingers a tight circle around her wrist.

"We've been together for three months now, don't act like I am going to rape you."

It was rather the first than the second sentence that made her temper flare into a full-blown bushfire.

"Let go," she hissed and tore free her hand. A look of annoyance crossed Rei's handsome face and he stood.

"Listen, if…"

"No, _you_ listen," she interrupted him. "I can be childish whenever I want to, I don't care what you think! If I don't want you to touch me in public, then I don't want to, if I don't kiss you, I don't, and if this is being childish then I _am_ a child! I am entitled to do whatever I please!"

His gaze turned patronizing immediately.

"Does this confuse you so much? You've had a boyfriend before, haven't you?"

Furious, she glowered at him. "Yes, but I'm currently single. Or should I rather say, single _again_."

He didn't even seem sorry. "If you say so."

…

Perfection, Shikamaru thought, was the way in which the clouds gathered in the sky on warm summer afternoons. Perfection was in the whisper of the wind, in the steady fall of the rain, in the sunshine on his face after a storm.

There were many things that were perfect. But perfection did not apply to mankind. No person was perfect, and if one appeared to be so, then he or she hid depths too dangerous to venture in, kept secrets too dark to share. Knowing this, he was glad he always was able to spot weak points in peoples' appearances. Ino was no exception.

_[Though sometimes he wondered how she could look that perfect, seem that perfect, work that perfect as she did, it was only when she glared at him that he thought she seemed human and perhaps it was the reason why he kept provoking her.]_

…

Ino loved the flower shop most when it was raining outside, when the steady droplets fell onto the pavement and the shop windows steadily. It was like the sky was crying all the tears she never would be able to shed.

"Hey." Shikamaru strolled in, dripping wet and both his hands buried in his pockets.

"Hey," she returned and turned back to the bucket of greens she was sorting through. A formal burial wreath was due tomorrow. Companionable silence spread out as Shikamaru wandered through the rows of both potted and cut plants, stopping here and there and then continuing with his meanderings again.

"The lemon tree needs some water and grooming," she offered without lifting her gaze from her wreath. Shikamaru nodded and disappeared into the little room behind the counter in order to fetch the watering can and a pair of scissors.

…

"Dumped again," Shikamaru told Chouji in their favorite spot on the bridge. Summer was hot and dry this year. Chouji sighed compassionately.

"You'll find someone."

"Hmpf."

"I'll introduce you to someone," Chouji promised.

…

While everyone knew what kind of women Shikamaru preferred nobody ever had had the idea to ask about Ino's taste in men. They'd just tacitly assumed it was Sasuke Uchiha, and she had never seen fit to correct them. _Misdirection. _It was something she was good at. Very good. She had learned to keep up pretenses – in every way imaginable.

…

"Hey, look at that."

The guy next to Shikamaru whistled silently as his gaze wandered appreciatively over the blonde's curves a few meter to the right.

"She's freakin' hot."

Shikamaru followed the guy's gaze and saw a pair of legs, perfectly shaped breasts and lips sweet as strawberries. His brain needed exactly seventeen seconds to match the deep blue eyes, the luscious lips and the perfectly shaped body to his childhood friend.

"No need to spill your beer," the guy joked and hit Shikamaru on the back. The Nara choked on his last sip of alcohol.

"_Her?"_

"Damn, yeah," the guy confirmed and sighed. "That ass, damnit."

Shikamaru suddenly felt like punching the guy's lights off.

…

"Your expectations are too high," Shikamaru advised her, enraging her only more.

"That coming from you? Thank you very much but I know exactly what I can ask for and what not!"

"So what are you asking for?" He crossed his arms, brown eyes burning into hers. Livid, she advanced on him until the palm of her hand slammed into his chest.

"I am asking for someone who isn't a freaking smart dipshit like you! I don't need guys telling me what to do and what to say! You think you're oh-so-smart, all the way down from your blown-up brain to your toes, IQ of 210, hell, I don't need another _genius_ in my life!"

"You just don't want a man to be smarter than you."

Her hand fisted. Ino glared up at him, their faces so close she could feel his breath.

"What is if that is _exactly_ what I want?"

"Perfect, then, because no intelligent man would date you for more than sex, and I wouldn't even if I was paid."

Shikamaru crossed a line that day. Ino lifted her fist with the full intention of slamming it into his face. He intercepted her hand but did not anticipate the second blow; it caught him squarely in his solar plexus. He absorbed it and caught her left hand, too, tugged her around and slammed her against the wall. She glared at him, her breathing hard and fast, and he just looked at her. There was a sheen of tears in her eyes but he knew she'd never allow tears to show, and, deep underneath the anger, something else, and he knew he'd gone too far.

"Ino-"

ANBU she was she weaseled out of his grasp and was gone faster than he could apologize.

…

_It's because you are beautiful,_ Sakura says in her mind and her hands move through her hair. Down, down, a hypnotizing rhythm. _Because you are. _She thinks she doesn't need Sakura to tell her but sometimes a friends' words carry greater meaning than one's own mind.

…

"Are you still not talking?"

Chouji seemed uncomfortable; his shoulders were hitched up all the way to his ears. Shikamaru noticed, even though he didn't want to. This was an intervention, clearly set up by his best friend, and he had no intention of letting him get through with it.

"Ino's not talking to me, you mean."

The first thought that jumped into his mind was _immature_, as so many times before, but he was beginning to wonder how much meaning this one word actually could hold. So Ino wasn't talking to him – but she seldom was in Hidden Leaf anymore anyway so what did it matter?

"I think the two of you should make up."

"It's not up to me."

He stated it, and he meant it. Shikamaru had no intention of fighting, but he had no intention of groveling for her forgiveness, either. They were adults and if he saw he had been wrong she could, as well. He didn't expect an apology, but he wasn't ready to give one either.

Chouji sighed. "What exactly happened, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru just shrugged.

…

Naruto was a good partner. ANBU worked in teams of two or alone, Ino preferred to work by herself but when she needed a partner Naruto was the best. She liked his silent and efficient ways, the ones that were so different from the ways he had shown as a boy and teenager. He still was cheerful and obnoxious, but he was a fighter.

Sakura had cried when he had joined. Ino had told her she would watch him, she hadn't promised because that wasn't what she did. But she said she would keep an eye on him and she did what she said she'd do. Always.

And he repaid her by not asking.

…

_And really, what are you waiting for?_

…

She sat on the banister of their bridge, her legs dangling. A dark figure in the light of the street lamps, blonde hair a silvery sheen in the darkness of the night. Flak vest and a skirt – a combination he hadn't seen her in since her chuunin exam – and shoulder-length hair and naked arms, she was a statue in the darkness. He might have passed her – but she was so obviously waiting for him he couldn't make himself ignore her.

"Hey."

Ino turned towards him, slowly. Suddenly he had the feeling he was looking at a deer, ready to bolt, and then she was the she-wolf again he always had associated her with. Calm, silent, lonely. Determined.

"Shikamaru."

He kept his distance. For her sake or for his? He couldn't tell.

"That was close today."

He had seen her mission reports – noted down tidily in her tiny handwriting, not a word too much, not a letter out of place. He'd seen many reports in his time – some were messy and scrawling, some sported blotches from coffee and ramen and tears – some were meticulous but a few letters skipped the line, as if the writer's hand had still been shaking. Ino's were perfect, just like her. He resented her for it. It wasn't human.

"Well, anyway." Her smile came unexpected, even for him. She looked at him straight and if there was uncertainty, she hid it perfectly. "I just wanted to tell you something. Maybe you already knew, all the time. It doesn't matter."

She tucked back a strand of hair that hadn't been out of order in the first place, one of the last gestures he recognized from his childhood friend. Everything else had been stripped from her by ANBU training.

"I've always loved you. No matter what you thought, and what you did. But it's enough, now."

Sliding off the railing, she turned to walk away. Shikamaru caught her wrist, tugged her around.

"You can't just leave like that."

"Really?" Her smile was blinding. "Then, what else is there left to say?"

…

"Stupid," Naruto told her three days later. "You can't just close some things like a book, you know. It's not only you, it's about him, as well. You dropped a bomb-shell on him – don't expect him to close the topic as quickly as you did."

Ino shrugged and continued forward. "I'm done with the side effects."

Naruto stared, his brows creased, but he didn't ask her to elaborate.

…

The next time wasn't only close but devastating, a run-in between Konoha ANBU and six nuke-nin intent on all but slaughtering the hated agents. It had nothing to do with intention and everything with being at the right place at the wrong time, and they returned back home only because they were discovered quickly. Sakura was livid, yelling at Naruto throughout the entire treatment, and at Ino, too. Only Ino was unconscious, and remained in that state for five days.

Shikamaru read the mission reports and found himself on his way to the hospital before he could even think of it, his body reacting before his brain even started up. No access was granted to her room when he reached his destination, _only next of kin_, so he stood there like ordered and never claimed and returned to his desk. The rest of the afternoon he spent reading, signing and delegating paper work, and in the evening he couldn't remember even one word of what he had done that day.

…

Spring came and brought the chuunin trials and the entirety of genin seemed to vanish from the village. Summer was hot and humid, monsoon season drowning the last plants that had survived the heat. Fall smelt of leaves and earth and rain, and winter covered up the world in a white sheen of snow and muffled every coherent sound and thought.

Somewhere along the days after midwinter Ino looked up and found herself on the same bridge she had played on so often as a child, and there were hand prints in the freshly fallen snow collecting on the banister. Smiling, she added hers. They were smaller by far than the ones already applied. For a fleeting second she wondered whether Shikamaru had been here. Then she dismissed the thought.

…

Naruto's stag party, to those who had attended it, would always be remembered as the night Neji and Rock Lee kissed (Neji would deny it until his death, and when Shikamaru thought of it it was a clear misunderstanding) and in which Lee then proceeded to take apart the entire place – the guy still couldn't hold his liquor at all. Shikamaru trapped the brawling participants in his shadow jutsu the second Sakura walked in and saw her fiancé fondle a prostitute – unable to let go of her due to the shadow jutsu. The punch ultimately thrown wasn't by her but by Tenten, to everyone's utter surprise, and both Neji and Shikamaru found themselves on the ground: their noses bleeding, a few teeth knocked loose, and seriously disoriented.

Half an hour later Shikamaru was still on the floor, now sitting upright, a cold, wet towel in his neck and an ice-pack on his nose, and Ino was still laughing.

"It's not funny," he told her and she cracked up even more.

"You should hear yourself," she gasped after she had gathered enough air to reply. Wiping away tears of laughter, she sighed. "And they say this only happens in novels."

Grunting non-committally, Shikamaru leaned back against the wall. Sakura, Naruto, Tenten and Neji were on the other side of the room, chatting away as if nothing ever had happened. Lee was out cold in a corner, while Kiba and Akamaru on the other side of the room were taking turns popping the balloons.

"What were you doing here, anyway?" He finally got around to asking. Ino shrugged. "Someone should have told us you'd be here."

"Bad timing?" He snorted. "Of couse."

"Hey, I didn't make the plans," Ino defended herself. Her head fell back against the wall, as well. "God, I'm tired."

She closed her eyes. "Tell me when they're ready to leave."

She'd been working non-stop, he knew. It was good… to see her take a break once in a while. Shikamaru just watched her.

…

The hardest thing in life was reaching standards. Ino knew nobody expected her to be perfect, but sometimes it felt just like that.

…

"Nicely played, Ino." Sakura winked at her.

Ino frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I heard Shikamaru was unable to keep his eyes off you at the wedding."

Ino shrugged. "That genius idiot? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have noticed had I worn nothing instead of that dress. He's not interested, believe me."

"He was staring an awful lot. Little wonder, that dress was amazing."

"It was your wedding, Sakura. You were the bride, the most beautiful person in the entire room. Ask Naruto."

"Well." Sakura flashed her a devious grin. "He's biased."

"Uhrg!" Ino's face twisted into a playful grimace. "TMI, thanks a lot."

…

"You're not there, Shikamaru," Chouji told him and he was right. They were in their usual cloud-gazing spot, it was a beautiful summer afternoon, and Shikamaru's thoughts were absolutely not focused on the cloud spectacle above them.

"Hmm," he answered.

Chouji leaned back. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know," Shikamaru answered truthfully.

"You haven't had a date in months," Chouji supplied helpfully. "You want me to set up one of Mizuno's girl friends?"

Shaking his head, he declined the offer. His best friend plunged ahead.

"Have you seen Ino these days?"

"Hm?"

"Ino? Have you seen her?"

"Oh. Yes."

Chouji didn't answer, didn't question him further, and Shikamaru sensed his eyes on him. Looking down from the sky, he found his friend staring at him directly.

"What?"

Chouji grinned. "Nothing, I guess. Or everything? How should I put it?"

"Shut up," Shikamaru growled.

…

"Oh, the hell I will!"

"It's an order, Ino."

"So just because you're Hokage now you think you can order me around?"

"Yes."

"Fine. I'll go. But…"

He didn't give her the chance to elaborate, merely grinned. "Perfect_."_

"Damn you, Naruto."

…

"Damn you, Shikamaru!"

"You keep saying that," Shikamaru growled and turned his back on her. "I don't think I ever was as keen on reaching Hidden Sand as I am right now."

"You think you've got it bad?"

Ino glowered at him. Even from underneath her ANBU mask, he could feel the anger she was radiating.

"What," he enunciated, turning back to her and staring at her directly, "Is your problem, actually? You've been like this since we started from Konoha. Is there a reason to your obvious dislike towards this mission? Because I don't need an angry ANBU on my heels in Suna. I do fine by myself."

Ino glowered at him and then stood, strode off into the surrounding grass land and disappeared. Taking a deep breath, Shikamaru squatted down, his back to the still-warm rock, and prepared to keep watch for himself.

…

_You said it was over anyway,_ Sakura had said. _It's just one mission._ Ino wouldn't have had any problems if it _had_ been just like any mission. Her part in it she could do, Anko-Sensei needed sensitive information from an informant close to Kaze's capital. It was the prospect of accompanying _Ambassador _Shikamaru in the direction of his girlfriend-or-such that made her so incredibly angry. She could tell herself a million times that she was through with him – Ino always had been particularly good at lying to herself – but there was that thorn in her heart that just wouldn't go away, and it was hurting her more with every day they approached Sunagakure.

…

"One hell of a tension," Naruto remarked. Sakura blinked innocently. "What do you mean?"

"Whom," he corrected her. "Whom do I mean. And I mean Shikamaru and Ino. What the hell happened in Suna?"

"Probably nothing," Sakura smirked. "Because otherwise, clearly, the tension would be gone."

Naruto threw her a reprimanding look.

"Lady, I need my best diplomat and my best ANBU fully fit for service at any time."

"Then lock them in a closet and tell them to get over with it."

"You have an evil mouth, love."

…

"Okay." Shikamaru put down his pen with a snap and glared at the woman on the other side of his office. "I know you don't want to be here, but it's work-related. Can't we treat this professional?"

Ino hated herself for it but she couldn't stop the words flowing from her lips.

"As professional as you and the Kazekage's sister work together?"

Shikamaru blinked, clearly taken aback. "That's… What… Whatever you got there, Ino, you got it wrong."

She smiled scornfully. "I apologize. There's nothing between you and Temari."

"That's right."

She blinked, obviously confused. "But you…"

"We went out for dinner once, and we spent a few evenings together working out the new agreement Gaara and Naruto wanted. Nothing more."

"Just the two of you?"

"Yes." He sighed, his hand trailing through his hair, then coming back to rest on the desk. "Why is this important?"

"Is it?" She blinked again, embarrassedly this time. "I…"

"Never mind. Can we continue now?"

"Absolutely."

…

"I'm a complete fool."

"Could have told you that much." Chouji crunched his potato chips noisily, enjoying each single one. "For a genius, you really take your sweet time sometimes, Shikamaru. Ino's right when she calls you genius idiot, you know."

…

And he wondered – wondered wondered _wondered_ – when the hell he had begun to want to kiss her so damn badly.

…

"Hey, what about Midsummer?"

Ino pulled a grimace. "Sorry."

"You're working during the _holidays_?"

…

Midsummer found Hidden Leaf preparing for the biggest diplomatic event in the last twenty years. People were milling around in the square beyond the Hokage's tower, setting up stalls, preparing food, talking and laughing and chatting. In the tower, Naruto and Gaara were going over the last details of the new treaty. Temari winked at Shikamaru as he crossed the room, her green eyes holding a mischievous sparkle. From the other side of the hallway, he could almost sense Ino's animosity. Shaking his head, he closed the door behind him and strode over to the next window. Ino dropped down noiselessly at his beckoning, her face hidden behind the mask. Shortly, he wondered how he could tell her apart from the other ANBU of her unit so easily – and then decided it did not matter.

"There was a change in plans."

Her ANBU-captain-self smothered every other thought in her mind.

"The Kage wish to open the festival themselves."

No sentiment was read in her mask but he could sense her stiffen. Two of the mightiest men out in the open, for everyone to see – a nightmare to every personal bodyguard. Regardless, she nodded.

"Thanks for the heads-up. I'll take the necessary precautions."

And off she went. Shikamaru didn't even try to follow her with his eyes.

…

"Are you ever off duty?" Sakura asked her. "Because I feel like I haven't seen my best friend in ages."

…

Rolling up the scroll he had just received, Naruto sighed deeply and held it over the flame of the nearest candle. The parchment burned up easily, leaving nothing but a faint scent of smoke and paper and a few flecks of ashes that were swept away by his breath.

The office war dark and quiet.

"Neji."

A shadow materialized from the darkness behind the door, forming into the figure of a man. The same nondescript dark cloak, the two short swords, the porcelain mask. Hinata had chosen well – Neji's symbol was a bird.

"Hokage-Sama."

Annoyed, Naruto pointed a pen at him. "Don't call me that."

Behind the mask it was impossible to read his features, but Naruto thought he could detect a grin in the dark shadows of the Hyuuga's face.

"Yes, esteemed Rokudaime."

Naruto grinned, admitting defeat. Then he sobered.

"You saw Ino's report."

Neji nodded. "It seems her mission will be even longer than expected."

Naruto shuffled through a stack of papers angrily, then blew out his breath. "I don't like it. She shouldn't have left in the first place. And all by herself, too."

"She knew it was important."

"She's walking into a trap."

"If anyone manages to get out unscathed and to return, it will be her."

"You have a lot of faith in her abilities."

"You were her partner. You should know her better than that."

Naruto hung his head. "I still don't like it."

"She'll be back soon."

When Naruto said nothing more, Neji turned to leave. "Wait," Naruto stopped him. "What do I tell Shikamaru when he asks for her? She's been gone for five weeks already."

"Shikamaru?" Neji's frown was obvious in his voice. "Why does he care?"

"Why?" Naruto sighed. "For the usual reasons, probably."

…

"And Ino?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't think she'll be there."

"She's working _again._"

Hinata was clearly disappointed. "Can't she just take off?"

Leaning back, Sakura pondered the question. "I don't think ANBU just _take off_," she said slowly. "Do they even have regulated hours?"

"Neji hasn't," Hinata conceded. "He's gone so often I sometimes wonder whether I'm married or not."

"Well, at least that's over for Naruto," Sakura remarked and sounded both pleased and guilty. "Ino, for the while, is another matter…"

"I think," Hinata said wistfully, "Ino does not want to _not_ be on duty. It's like the mask became a part of her."

"Yeah."

Silently, they watched Hinata's firstborn struggle to stand, until Hinata picked him up and Sakura cooed to him and they watched him in wonder.

…

"Are you ever off duty?" Shikamaru asked her and Ino had an uncomfortable déjà-vu. She shook her head. "Since Ibiki-San retired…"

"Every ANBU is needed, I know." He sighed, his hand brushing away hair from his face. "Just wondering. You've been gone for three months. _Again._"

She waited, still as a statue. It was unnerving, the stillness, she hadn't been like this as a child. Always moving, always loud. _Troublesome._ Suddenly, he felt panic rising, hot and irrational.

"Take off your mask."

"What?" Surprise laced her voice. The more important it became that he saw her face _right now_. This wasn't the Ino he'd always known, the girl that had been his best friend since childhood. _This_ was someone else, some kind of stranger who killed people and hid behind a porcelain mask with a blood-red wolf painted on it.

"_Take it off!"_

His hand reached up to tear down her mask and then froze as cold steel pressed against his throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked, her incredulous voice a mere whisper.

"Please." He didn't move, tried to communicate through his eyes.

Carefully, she lowered her kunai. It disappeared down her sleeves. Slowly, as if she had to force herself to do so, she lifted her arms, loosened the cord that kept the mask in place, and lifted it from her face. Behind it a familiar face appeared from the shadows, perhaps more taut, perhaps exhausted, an older version of the Ino he had played with on the bridge. But her eyes still were of the same ice-blue he remembered, and they held the same frightened look he had felt a few seconds before. It still was her. Only when her eyes grew wide in surprise and fear, perhaps, Shikamaru realized that he was touching her face, that his hands were tracing her features. He didn't care for stopping, he was too glad she was still alive behind her self-imposed mask.

"Shikamaru…"

Her voice was a whisper. A muffled sound reached his ears – she had let go of her mask. Porcelain met heavy earth but didn't shatter. Ino still was incredibly, incredibly beautiful.

Shikamaru leaned down and kissed her.

…

"About time."

"If you're about to say _I told you so…_"

"Then what?"

"Then save it."

"I told you so. Why does it surprise you?"

He shook his head. "She's not his type. Perhaps that's why it took them so long."

"Men." His wife sighed deeply. "Always blind. She's _exactly_ his type."

…

"And what," she asked him afterwards, "Is supposed to happen now?"

Shikamaru looked up at her, his hair spread out all over the pillow. His dark eyes were gentle.

"It's up to you."

Pulling the sheets closely around her, Ino shivered. "Do you do this often?"

"No." He shook his head slowly. It would have been so much easier had she not known him so well. The honesty she could sense in every word, every glance, frightened her more than the prospect of facing one hundred enemies did. "The choice is yours. I won't try to influence you."

He had already reduced her walls to rubble, why was he making it even worse?

"I never wanted your pity."

She felt like crying.

"Pity is not what I offer you," he told her bluntly. "I love you. The choice is yours."

Staring at him, she felt something give way. "You're just saying that."

"I never just say something for the sake of it and you know it."

"Bastard!" He caught her fists – her heart wasn't in her punches otherwise he'd not regain his breath so easily. There was something wet on her face but she ignored it. "For years, _years, _I waited and waited and then given up and then you suddenly come and…"

He tugged her down so her hair fell into his face, close enough that she could feel the soft gust of wind from his exhalation. "_Ino. _I love you. The choice is yours."

His hand came up, wiped away a tear so tenderly she was unable to think. His eyes told her myriads of stories, and each of them had the same moral. Cupping his face in her hands, she looked at him, and _looked, _and he smiled.

She'd never laughed and cried at the same time before, and his lips tasted salty.

…

"You owe me, Nara."

Shikamaru glanced up at his Hokage. Naruto grinned down at him cheekily. "What do you mean?"

"That, you know full well."

"I don't see…"

"Of course you don't. Anyway, you owe me. Now go, take her out for dinner or something. I'll see both of you tomorrow. Shoo!"

And with a shooing motion, Shikamaru was expelled from his own office. By his own boss. On Valentine's Day. _Well. _He smiled to himself. He guessed he _did _have to thank Naruto one day.

…

"You're too smart for your own good," Ino told him, smirking. Shikamaru just tugged her back against his side again.

"I'm not too smart for you, I hope," he answered and held his breath.

"Nah," she responded, after a long pause. "Just right, I guess. What about me? Am I too annoying?"

"I don't think so," he mused. "Usually… When you've eaten, and slept, and… Outch."

She pulled back her elbow. "Idiot."

"Hey," he said and pulled her towards him a second time. "I was joking. You're not troublesome at all. And you're beautiful."

She held his gaze. "Too much so?"

"Overwhelmingly so." Shikamaru smiled. "You're perfect."

* * *

_A/N: God, it's been ages since I wrote this. I didn't even remember it anymore. Anyway, this is to celebrate the fact that my exams are over. Pheew. _


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